


Right Here Waiting

by Astrid_Midnight



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Cloti Endless Summer 2020, F/M, Hurt No Comfort, No happiness here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:02:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25444375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astrid_Midnight/pseuds/Astrid_Midnight
Summary: He was coming home. She just had to wait.Written for Endless Summer 2020. Day 7 Prompt: 'Right Here Waiting'- Richard Marx.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Right Here Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 7 of Endless Summer 2020!!
> 
> Prompt: 'Right Here Waiting'- Richard Marx.
> 
> A day late but here's my final fic for Endless Summer 2020!!! I'm not sure how well this one came out but I didn't want to wait long to get this one posted!
> 
> Me, reading the lyrics to this song: WELL THEN I GUESS WE'RE ALL SUFFERING!!!!

_Oceans apart, day after day,_

_And I slowly go insane._

* * *

How long had it been? Zack lost count after a few months; he couldn’t figure when the years began to pass. Initially, Zack was scraping his counts on the wall of the cell he and Cloud were locked up in. It helped him keep track of the passage of time but once they reached around a hundred days, Zack stopped keeping count. He didn’t want to remind Cloud of the nightmare they were already in.

The loss of time, coupled with the experiments and torment, threatened to tear Zack’s mind apart. Whenever it wandered to the people he loved, trying to remember the happy times, it only brought up a bunch of questions. How were his parents? He hadn’t seen them in so long and the last form of communication he had with them was when he wrote about introducing them to Aerith.

_Aerith…_

The thought of her name made Zack choke up (he had to stifle a sob to not wake up Cloud) and how long since their last phone call with each other. He remembered telling Aerith that he’d come visit after his mission, that he’d sell flowers with her around Midgar. Once he started thinking about her, he couldn’t stop thinking about the different possibilities:

How was she doing? Were ShinRa still keeping an eye on here? Was Aerith _safe?_

His heart tore into pieces as he imagined her waiting for him to come back. Would she think something strange was going on or would she just assume that he was-

Zack clutched his chest at the thought of Aerith believing that.

He tries to focus on his memories of her: falling into her church, buying her pink ribbon, her accepting him despite her distain for ShinRa and SOLDIERS, her comforting him after Angeal’s death, building her flower wagons, promising to spend more time with her-

Zack let out an empty chuckle at that last one. “Looks like I’m gonna be a little late fulfilling that promise, Aerith…” He cradled his head in his hands at the thought of never making his way back to Aerith. The thought of her believing that he was never coming home. Would she think he just decided to not come back? That he didn’t like her anymore and… ditched? Tears formed in Zack’s eyes and he forced himself to blink them away.

He couldn’t imagine ever leaving Aerith of his own accord. Not in a million years.

But would Aerith think that? Would she eventually move on? If she thought he was dead or that he moved on, what would she do?

They were miles and miles apart, he was trapped, had no way of escaping and no way reaching her.

Zack shook his head frantically to rid those dark thoughts from his mind. He and Cloud would find a way out of here. They would escape, get as far away as possible.

And he would find Aerith again. He would.

He would.

* * *

_I hear your voice on the line_ _  
But it doesn't stop the pain_

* * *

_“Hey, it’s Zack!! Can’t answer right now but I’ll get back to you later!!”_

The mocking beep of his voicemail echoed in Aerith’s ear. She didn’t bother leaving a message this time. Instead, she hit the ‘decline’ button, almost deciding to slam her phone on the dining table, but ultimately decided against it. Getting angry wouldn’t solve anything.

It had been quite a while since she has last spoken to Zack. He had said he would come visit her after he was done with his mission but it had been a few months now. No matter how many times she texted or called, she couldn’t get hold of him. She figured Zack would have been busy with work even after his mission but Aerith expected to get _something_ from him. When she didn’t hear from Zack for a few days, she had tried calling, but she couldn’t seem to get a connection or answer. All she could do was leave a message.

Which was what she had been doing for the last month or so.

Every time she called, it always went to his voicemail. And every time it went to his voicemail, she always heard his pre-recorded voice. As the days and weeks went by, hearing that cheerful and joyous voice continued to wear down her heart. It only reminded her that he wasn’t by her side.

He had told her that he’d take her to the top plate to sell flowers with her. That she didn’t need to be afraid of the sky if he was there with her.

But where was he? Why wasn’t her answering her?

Aerith buried her face in her hands and did her best to stifle a sob. She missed him so much. She missed his irresistible s mile, his infectious laugh, his passionate energy. She didn’t realise how badly she missed him until he had mysteriously disappeared from her sight.

The fact that he wasn’t answering his phone or returning her calls made the anxiety in her stomach grow more and more. They had been dating for over a year and they made so many plans together for when he was done with his mission. So why wasn’t he back?

Was there something else going on that she didn’t know about?

Or… did he… find someone else while he was gone?

Aerith pushed that intrusive thought down quickly. She shook her head; Zack wasn’t like that. He wasn’t the type to make promises only to break them for someone else. Whenever something came up, he was always on the phone to tell her, to apologise for not being able to spend more time with her. While they were dating, Zack only had eyes for her. He never talked to and treated other girls the way he treated her. He made it clear that she was his girlfriend, that he was the only woman on his mind.

That he’d never leave her side.

So, if he wasn’t with another woman, then where could he possibly be?

_This was Shinra…_

_You know how well they sweep things under the rug-_

No. She couldn’t think that.

She knew Zack. He was a powerful fighter. He wasn’t First Class SOLDIER for nothing. He could defeat anything Shinra threw his way.

He had to.

Aerith picked up a piece of paper and held it in her hands for a few minutes. If there was no way of reaching Zack by calling his phone… maybe she could reach him by sending a letter. His phone could’ve been destroyed while on his mission and maybe that was why she hadn’t heard from him yet. She had to do everything she could to make sure that Zack was okay.

If there was still hope that he was out there, Aerith had to take it.

* * *

_If I see you next to never  
How can we say forever_

* * *

It wasn’t just _a_ letter though. Zack still hadn’t responded. Yet she continued to write.

Even though people had told her after the first few letters she was better off letting him go, Aerith couldn’t find it in her heart to do so. She felt it. She couldn’t explain but she felt Zack out there.

Sometimes, as she wrote those letters, she wondered why was doing it. Common sense told her there was no use waiting around for someone who wasn’t coming back. In her mind, it was the most logical argument. If Zack wasn’t returning her calls and not answering her letters, then that should’ve told her that she had to stop. No contact from him for several months should’ve sent her the clear message that she was never going to get a response from him.

Why should she keep holding onto him if he never wrote back?

Aerith clutched her pen tightly in her hand as she paused writing for a moment. She quickly resumed. Zack would never ignore her on purpose. He would write back when he could.

And would wait for him as long as it took. She would. And he would come back one day. He had to.

There was still so much they had to do together.

* * *

_Wherever you go  
Whatever you do  
I will be right here waiting for you_

* * *

Two years had gone by since she sent that first letter.

Two years and still no response from Zack.

Even if she didn’t believe it, Aerith knew she had to start moving on.

Aerith began selling her flowers on the upper plate. Looking up, the sky still frightened her. Sometimes, when she was alone, she could hear voices. The voices of everyone and no one. But, with a smile on her face, she proudly presents the flowers to her customers. Her only wish was for one person to be by her side as she did so.

One day, Aerith decided to wear pink. She recalled the suggestion Zack gave her two years ago to wear pink on their dates. She brushed it off as one of his silly musings. But, looking at herself in the mirror, she liked the way it looked on her. A pleased smile on her face, she pulled on her jacket and grabbed her basket.

She wonders… if she’ll ever run into him.

* * *

_Whatever it takes  
Or how my heart breaks  
I will be right here waiting for you_

* * *

Three years had gone by. Zack didn’t know that, of course.

Every time he had thought they were close to escaping, Hojo and his men had to stop them. And every time they stopped them, they doubled down on security. Sometimes, Zack would give up hope that he and Cloud were never going to escape, that they were going to stay trapped in the cold basement forever.

Zack had to force himself to stop thinking those thoughts. He couldn’t give up. Cloud was already growing weaker and weaker, sometimes unable to move on his own, leaving Zack as the only one with the ability to break them out. He was going to escape this nightmare, no matter what. He was going to break out and get him and Cloud as far away from Shinra as possible.

He wanted nothing more than to be by Aerith’s side. To hear her angelic voice and her bubbly laughter. The memory of her brought him both comfort and sorrow. It only reminded Zack that he wasn’t by her side. He knew Aerith was more than capable of taking care of herself, but that didn’t diminish his desire to be with her and make sure that she was okay.

Zack just had to wait for the perfect time. Only then could they escape.

* * *

_I took for granted, all the times  
That I thought would last somehow_

* * *

When Aerith was alone at night, the voices she heard overwhelmed her. They told her that she needed to let him go. With the line of work Zack was in, it was only natural that something dreadful would happen to-

Aerith shook the voices away and buried her face in her pillow. No. Zack was still out there. He would make his way back to her eventually.

_Wouldn’t that be nice?_

She was only reminded of the memories she and Zack shared together. Memories that she used to look back on fondly now broke her apart. She remembered the time he built her a wagon from scratch and how enthusiastic he was to help her sell the flowers. How he said that they would sell flowers around Midgar together. Aerith had looked forward to that ever since he said he’d come visit her.

Now, he was gone and it seemed like that was never going to happen.

Every time she closed her eyes, she could see Zack’s face and the smile that always made her day and made her feel warm inside. She never felt that way with anyone else. She had told him her wish was to spend more time with him. So that they could enjoy more happy times and build more fun memories together. All of her wishes involved spending time with Zack but sometimes she wished she told him what all of them were.

Aerith should’ve told him in person how content he made her feel.

_You should’ve known better than to think that feeling would ever last._

Aerith couldn’t find it in her heart to argue back.

* * *

_I hear the laughter, I taste the tears  
But I can't get near you now_

* * *

They were on the run from Shinra. Both of them.

When they took refuge for the night, Zack dreamt of _her_. Of the first time they met, when he bought her the pink ribbon, when she comforted him during Angeal’s death, when they built the wagon for her flowers.

All the times they laughed. All the times they cried. He saw them all, with a pair of animated green eyes that always made his heart clench.

In his dreams, they would fill Zack’s heart with joy. But he always woke up with tears in his eyes. The memories only reminded him that he wasn’t with her. That she was far away and he had no safe way of reaching her. If Zack wanted to get Cloud and him back to Midgar, he’d have to evade and fight the entirety of Shinra. He was more than willing to oblige; he would get Cloud to safety and reach Aerith even if it meant his own death.

Zack wondered how she was doing. If she was continuing to grow and sell flowers around Midgar like she dreamed. Even though he promised her that he would take her to the upper plate to sell flowers, he hoped she was able to face the sky without fear.

He hoped she was _happy_.

* * *

_I wonder how we can survive_ _  
This romance_

* * *

The eighty-ninth letter.

The final one she would send.

She held onto hope for those four years, but she couldn’t anymore. It wasn’t doing her any good sending letters to someone who never responded. Aerith really didn’t want to let him go; she didn’t have many people left. She didn’t want to lose another. But if he was never coming back, what was point? What good would it do her to call for a man who would never answer.

_It’s fine_ , she told herself. _He’s probably much happier with someone else, right now._ She had to let herself be happy too, even if it wasn’t with him.

For a moment, she wondered what she would do without him in her life when she remembered-

He left her life four years ago.

_Gotta look forward, never look back…_

Aerith cried as the final letter left her hands.

* * *

_But in the end if I'm with you  
I'll take the chance_

* * *

_“Boy oh boy… The price of freedom is steep.”_

_“Embrace your dreams… And, whatever happens, protect your honour. As SOLDIER!”_

_“COME AND GET IT!”_

* * *

Aerith looked up at the sky.

It continued to rain.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Writing these fics for Endless Summer has been so much fun and I'm so happy I got to partake!! Thank you again for all of your wonderful support!!
> 
> Twitter: xvsylleblossoms


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